Harry Potter and the Whisperer
by Batekatt
Summary: This is a revised and rewritten story. Harry Potter is back at Hogwarts for the sixth year now, but this time there is an outsider, a Whisperer, brought in by Fawkes. Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K.Rowling's characters!
1. Surprise Arrival

_**First, I need to explain a couple of things.. This is a revised story that is currently undergoing rewriting, so I'm posting it as I go through it. :)**_

_**The # symbol means that something is Whispered (meaning that it's some sort of telepathy that's happening) in their mind alone.**_

_**The symbols # and " together means that something is Whispered out loud, not just in their minds.**_

_**"Whispering" written with capital W means telepathy, while "whispering" with a lower case W means just regular whispering.**_

_**And, last but not least, these are all J. K. Rowling's characters, except from Anne. The plot is my own creation, but the world it's set in belongs to Rowling. :)**_

_**Enjoy!!**_

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**Harry Potter and the Whisperer**

**Surprise Arrival**

The flames that flared up around us came so suddenly and extinguished again within seconds, so I didn't even have time to panic. The fact that the world around me seemed to have changed as well during that burst of flames shocked me even more. Gone was my home, gone were the rolling fields and hills that surrounded my home, and all the things familiar to me, and instead I stood surrounded by tall, ancient trees. Trying to understand what had just happened, I first checked myself, my bag, and the bird for any damages done by the fire, but found none. Not even a smidge of soot. Then I slowly rotated around, trying to figure out where I was. The forest to my left felt old and secretive, and I was momentarily stunned with the things I felt in there. I kept turning, and I saw a small, cosy-looking cabin by the edge of the forest, and though I felt as if someone was watching me with surprise and a bit of suspicion, there were no one in the windows, only a slim trail of smoke coming up from the chimney. Then my jaw dropped as I noticed a humongous castle as I had almost completed my turn. The sheer presence of the castle made my skin tingle, even though I noticed more and more tingling pressure in all the air around me as the first shock of the flames and this new place gave way.

#That is the school.# The golden and fiery red bird that sat on my shoulder let out a beautiful, soft note as I felt the just as soft voice float into my mind. I was starting to suspect that things weren't going to be as easy as it had first sounded like when it had approached me that same morning in the woods close to my home. I had almost dropped my straws filled with wild strawberries as it spoke so clearly in my mind. Normally when animals approached me I would get more of a feeling of what they wanted, and sometimes I'd get single words or memories, but seldom so clear sentences without me having known them for a while.

I hefted my bag more securely onto my other shoulder, and then carefully stroking the warm feathers on the bird's chest while I stared at the building, letting the calming feelings the bird emanated soothe me while I tried to make sense of what I was looking at. I've always loved the look of European castles, and this one was beautiful, shimmering in the sunlight with hundreds of windows, strong stonewalls and high towers. I just knew that this place was old, and it felt as though it was filled with magic, for a lack of a better word. That had to be one heck of a school.

"#So, I'll find him up there?#" I mumbled Whispering, trying to ignore all the different emotions that were swirling in the air and concentrate on my job.

#Yes, I'll show you.# The soft voice floated through my mind again.

"Harry? Harry?!" A girl came around some bushes, and froze in front of me. She had bushy brown hair and large brown eyes, looking to be about the same age as me, and looking a bit shocked to see me. The clothes she wore looked like a school uniform of sorts, and as I had never seen such a thing before I became even more curious as to where I was, and I wondered who this Harry character she was looking for was. Smiling friendly at her while making sure I put out calming feelings, I explained that I wasn't familiar with the area, and wondered if she knew the whereabouts of the person I was looking for. Even though I could feel the girl relax with my smile, she also seemed to get confused as I spoke.

#She is very smart, and trustworthy. She can take you up to the school.# The bird Whispered to my mind, and though I was pretty sure that the girl in front of me didn't hear the bird, her jaw dropped a bit. And her eyes were still locked on me, before she rubbed them slightly as if she doubted her sight. I smiled to her again, and she relaxed and smiled back, and I suddenly understood why she had been so confused earlier, when she replied to me in English instead of speaking in my native tongue.

"Sorry, I didn't quite understand what you said except for that one name. But follow me, and I'll see if I can find him for you, okay?" She made some gestures as well, indicating that I should follow her, and I just smiled and nodded while trying to shake off the feeling of someone watching me and being protective towards this girl. I still couldn't see anyone else there, and I knew it wasn't an animal, but even though I could feel a person - a boy actually - I started to wonder if I was just feeling a ghost or something. Even so, it was a bit unnerving, as I felt swamped with feelings from the forest and the castle and everything around me, much stronger than I was used to, and it just seemed to keep building. As the girl turned to walk, I suddenly realised that I hadn't even introduced myself, so took a hold of her arm.

"Anne Beate Holmene Ottosen..." I introduced myself to her as she looked back at me, while offering her my hand in greeting. I felt her uncertainty, so as she slowly reached for my hand I shortened my name for her. "...Anne."

"Hermione Granger... Hermione. Nice to meet you." She smiled warmly at me, shaking my hand with a firm grip that radiated confidence in herself.

#We should move on before you get too tired.# I looked at the bird on my shoulder, and had to agree with it as I knew that I had kept up my Whispering for a long time already this day. Hermione was looking intensely at me when I turned back to her again, but she didn't say anything, just grinned before she took the lead up towards the castle. As we walked I kept staring at everything around me, feeling quite in awe at the size of the building we were closing in on, and as there were more students the closer we got I noticed that they all seemed to have similar uniforms as what Hermione was wearing, except for some difference in colours here and there. I ignored the feeling of being followed, as there were so many other impressions to take in as well, and just as the bird took off from my shoulder - I presumed it was going to locate the person I was to talk with - I saw the first adult at the place. He reminded me of a predator, dressed all in black with billowing robes, and the dark glare he gave us as he approached was honed to scare people into submission. Ignoring me, he turned his attention to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing bringing total strangers into the school grounds?!" he growled coldly.

"Professor Snape! Uhm, well, she wanted to see professor Dumbledore… I think…" Hermione almost stammered.

"You think? Well, well, the famous know-it-all is uncertain about something? What business do you have here?" The professor directed his last question to me, but before I could open my mouth Hermione jumped back into the conversation again.

"Yes, I think she wants to see Dumbledore as his name was the only word I could understand. She didn't speak English when I met her. And as Dumbledore is the headmaster of this school I thought it best to bring her to him in any case."

I looked from Hermione to this professor Snape and back again as they had their little battle of wills, and I had to suppress a grin as I felt the steel in Hermione's will match up to the professor's. I had to divert my attention though when I felt the reason as to why I was here in the first place land on my shoulder, and the now familiar soft voice drifted through my mind.

#He's in the room behind the third door over there.# An image of the door matched up to what I saw down a hallway, so I ignored the stares from the people around me and walked determinately towards it, knocking firmly on it once I reached it. Before anyone had a chance to answer I was swirled around by a strong grip on my shoulder, and the bird flew up above me as my eyes focused on the grim face of professor Snape that was looming over me.

"Listen here, girlie. I don't care if you don't know any English, you're not to go wandering around here as you please, or I'll..-" Snape was cut short as the door behind me opened up in response to the knocking, and a dusty looking old man with the longest beard I had ever seen poked his head out.

"Fawkes! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" He cried out, opening the door wide to reveal a grimy old storage room behind him. He beamed happily as the bird who landed back on my shoulder sung softly, but his eyes turned from merry to intrigued as his gaze rested for a moment at me, before looking at the professor that was frozen before me, and swooping his gaze over Hermione and the scene behind her, before looking back at me.

"Hello there. And who are you?" He looked just like what I imagined a Celtic druid would look like with his long silver hair and beard, except for his purple and blue robes, from which he seemed to pull out a feather-duster and started to dust himself off.

Hermione and Snape started talking at the same time, but silenced as the man before me lifted his hand. His twinkling eyes never left me, and I knew that this one was both wise and strong, as I could feel the gentle but intense power that flowed around and through him.

"Hello, I'm Anne. Actually my full name is Anne Beate Holmene Ottosen, but Hermione here seemed to think it was quite a mouthful. I'm looking for someone named Dumbledore. I assume that's you?" I could feel Snape and Hermione shift their attention back to me, seeming surprised that I had spoken in English.

"A fine name you have there. Yes, I would be him. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Dumbledore looked down his long nose at me, curiosity filling his eyes.

"Oh, your name definitively beat mine in length..! Anyways, I'm here because your bird - Fawkes, was it? - seemed to believe that my help was needed…" I smiled brightly at Dumbledore as I manoeuvred out of Snape's grip and further out of reach, with Fawkes taking flight again. Dumbledore beamed back at me with raised eyebrows, dusting off his long beard before he walked out from the storage room and closed the door behind him, and Fawkes settled on his shoulder.

"Really? Well, maybe we should go to my office then, and you can explain the situation a bit better. This way please." He replied before he strode off, waving away Snape's spluttering protests.

I made a quick decision and rushed over to Hermione and pulled her along with me after Dumbledore, and at his questioning glance I shrugged and explained without his question being voiced.

"She's been very kind to me so far, and she deserves to get her curiosity stilled. Besides, she seems very intelligent, and she might have some interesting viewpoints or good questions for later."

"Not to mention she'd be saved from professor Snape's wrath this way…" Dumbledore almost grinned, but managed to keep a straight face at Hermione's shocked and stunned face, and I winked conspiratorially to him at his last words.

Hermione relaxed again as she walked beside me, and when I grinned to her she smiled brightly back at me. I hadn't just pulled her along because of the intelligence I felt in her or because she deserved to get away from any reprimands from that sour professor, but also because she was the first person I had met on this strange place, and I felt very comfortable around her. With everything that was in the air here, I felt much better with having someone with me that made me relax a bit. We were just turning a corner when I looked ahead of us and saw a hallway cabinet with glass doors, and in the glass I saw my reflection. I automatically took a step back when I saw that I was glowing with a colourful aura that was very much visible, but before I had a chance to think my instincts kicked in as I felt as if I was about to crash into someone behind me. I spun around, seeing nothing at all behind me, but still feeling as if it was a solid person there. Looking down at my hands, seeing them glow as well, I wondered what the heck was happening to me, if I was just dreaming all of this, but then Hermione suddenly stepped up beside me and gripped something in midair, pulling, and then a boy that could be about our age appeared. He wasn't big, but he was still a head taller than me, with a uniform with similar colours as the one Hermione wore, and with messed up black hair and surprisingly green eyes behind his round glasses.

"Harry! Where have you been? You haven't been following us all along, have you?" Hermione asked demandingly.

I noticed the guilty look in his eyes as he looked to Dumbledore for help. Sinking slowly down to my knees in the corridor, I stared down to my glowing hands and then back up at this boy that had materialized from thin air, my knees feeling like jelly and my thoughts wondering if I was going insane. Hermione had obviously noticed me more or less collapsing, and she kneeled beside me with a worried look, and I realised that the two others were worried as well, so I pulled myself together, berating myself for not trusting my instincts and feelings.

"It's okay… I'm okay… I just haven't seen my aura like this before, and when I felt someone behind me without seeing anyone there I thought I was having a brain-leak or something…" I laughed weakly, but closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, focusing mentally to get my flickering aura to calm down. "At least this explains the presence of protection I felt towards you, Hermione. But I'm getting a bit tired and mightily confused, maybe we should get to the office so I could explain things before my headache sets in, and then I can get my explanations from you lot afterwards…? Does that sound okay for you guys?"

"Yes, I believe that's an excellent approach at this time. Harry, you can come along too." Dumbledore looked calm, taking things at a stride, and I was grateful that Hermione helped me get back up on shaky knees, while she sniffed angrily at this boy who obviously was the Harry that Hermione had been looking for in the first place. I wondered what would be happening next, trying to prepare myself for other surprises, but I couldn't hold back gasps of admiration at the beautiful gargoyles that stood by an entrance that appeared in the wall, with moving stairs behind them that we stepped onto. We ended up in a room that was filled with things I had never seen before, but I knew that time was working against me, so I ignored the fact that I hadn't even noticed the chairs we sat down on when we first entered the room, and as Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and looked at me, I nodded and started trying to explain.

"First thing first – I'm a Whisperer…" At my words Dumbledore nodded in understanding, while Harry and Hermione only looked blankly at me. "A Whisperer is a person who has the ability to… well… 'talk' to animals. It's kind of like… like telepathy. I've always been able to feel parts of what the animal I focus on feels, and sometimes it's like there's a voice in the back of my head when the connection is strong enough. A friend of mine is Empathic – someone who always feels what people, and animals, around her feel – and she helped me expand my own similar abilities, and we kind of practised with each other. Both of us have helped people with their animals – though it's often the owner who's the real problem as he or she can't communicate properly with their animal. Animals have approached me on their own accord to seek help more than once, and this morning Fawkes here showed up in the forest close to my home where I was looking for wild strawberries…"

At his name, Fawkes flew from his perch next to Dumbledore and over to me again, where he sat on the armrest of my chair. I absentmindedly stoked his fiery feathers, and gazed out into the air before me, trying to sort out my thoughts.

"That reminds me… Where exactly am I now?" I asked.

"You have arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, situated in Great Britain." Dumbledore supplied.

"Oh… Witchcraft and Wizardry?? That explains a whole lot… So you're all witches and wizards? With real magic and stuff??" I clapped my hands excitedly, jumping up and down in my chair, feeling eager as a child and surprisingly fast accepting what he said.

Dumbledore chuckled, and Harry and Hermione grinned at my clear display of joy.

"Yes, I'm a witch…" Hermione answered, "…and this wizard next to me is my good friend Harry Potter."

"Pleased to meet you!" I craned my head around Hermione who sat in the middle and smiled brilliantly at Harry, who blushed shyly but offered a small smile back.

#Your power is weakening, you really should try to finish your explanation.# Fawkes let out a long note, and I snapped back in my chair with my aura visibly flaring into life again.

"#Unnskyld, jeg glemte meg…#" I Whispered in a voice strong enough for everybody to hear, but none of them seemed to understand what I was saying in my native tongue. "Fawkes wants me to tell you that he's brought me here to help everyone." I spoke to Dumbledore in a more foreign accented English than before.

"Do you always have to 'whisper' in your own language? Where are you from, anyway?" Hermione cut in, curiosity radiating off of her.

I looked blankly at her for a second before breaking out into a broad smile.

"See, I told you she's a clever one! Actually, I've never had to try this in another language… I'm from Norway, and thus I speak Norwegian. But it would be much easier to Whisper in English, 'cause it's easier for me to speak English if I think in English. Explains why my English sucks right after I Whisper…" I turned back to Fawkes, and as I Whispered my aura radiated, all the colours in the rainbow constantly changing in what I could see of it. "#Okay, Fawkes, I'll just translate continuously as you say what you need to say first.#" Fawkes sung a note now and then, but none of the people in the room gave off any feelings of doubt that the bird was in fact speaking to me non-stop. "#He has felt everyone's despair building for a long time, the search for hope. The darkness in peoples hearts is growing, the need for communication is stronger than ever, yet everyone walks in silence. The… the 'dark lord'…? Okay, the dark lord must be fought, he can not win if the world is to survive… All the animals speaks of the foolishness of mankind. Even the most loving of cats wants to claw their owners to get their attention on the dangers closing in, and the loyal owls wishes their owners did more than use them as a means of communication, that they could instead listen to the wisdom they carry within… Fawkes knew of the need for a child of the greatest Mother of all, and started searching, until he… found me. I'm here to break the silence… Fawkes can feel the sadness in his father/ brother – this means you, Dumbledore – and wants to ease the burden. The… the child who survived…? No, 'lived'..? A boy who lived has to carry the heavy burden of the… prophecy… on his shoulders, but he needs to know… that he was never alone… that his gift… is truly a gift and not a curse. He has the strength he needs… to fight the dark one… but he has to learn about his 'feelings'…? The gift…?#" All the feelings of this powerful place was pressing onto me, and I heard my voice getting weaker as my head started to spin. "Oh no, I think I've overdone it…" Was the last thing I got out before I fainted in my chair.


	2. Getting To Know People

_**Okay, here's another chapter.. It's a bit shorter than the last one, but I'll leave it like this.. :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own nothing of J.K. Rowling's..**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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**Getting to Know People**

When I woke up my head was pounding like mad, threatening to split into several bits and cha-cha as entertainment for those around me. Struggling to remember what it was that knocked me out in the first place, I tried to decipher the voices that surrounded me.

"Why didn't you tell us about this prophesy sooner, Harry?" a slightly familiar female voice asked in English.

"Yeah Harry, you know you can trust us. We'll help you all we can." This voice sounded male, but no bells of familiarity rang this time.

"Thanks guys. You know that a lot of things have been happening, and… Well, I just didn't feel like talking about it. Sorry." Another unfamiliar male voice, obviously belonging to someone named Harry, and they all were speaking in English. Extremely good English too to come from someone Norwegian. Oh, wait… something in the back of my head was tickling my memory. Something about me not being in good old Norway anymore. And then it all came rushing back, and I groaned at the memory of my incredibly clumsy ending of the Whispering session in Dumbledore's office.

"Make way, make way! This poor girl has overworked her brain to exhaustion, and here you are disturbing her peace! If it was up to me you lot would be out of here in a split second!" Now this voice was strict and female.

A hand found my neck and rose my head from the comfortable pillow it had rested on. At the feeling of cold glass against my lips and something foul-smelling reaching my nose, my eyes snapped open. What looked like a nurse was trying to give me something bubbling in a glass vile, and I tried to resist it until my eyes found Dumbledore standing behind the nurse.

"Madam Pomfrey is just going to give you something for the headache, nothing to worry about." Trusting Dumbledore based on things Fawkes had told me about him, I obediently forced down the liquid, and miracles upon miracles – my head instantly gave up it's warfare.

"Thank the gods, that feels so much better!" I gave my broadest smile to the kind nurse from the heavens along with my sincerest thanks, and saw her fighting a smile before she rushed on with her job elsewhere in the room.

There were several other beds like mine around, some sheltered with portable textile-walls, and as my head cleared up I realised I'd been brought to what had to be the school infirmary. "I'm sorry I passed out on you like that, Dumbledore. But it's been a long day, and I'd been Whispering for a lot longer than I'm used to."

"That's quite all right, Anne. You gave us more than enough for now, enough to convince me that we should take you in with open arms. You haven't even been unconscious for that long either, and I'm impressed with the strength of your skills. I haven't known that many Whisperers. Now, I suppose that the bag you carried with you contains some sort of equipment for spending the night?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah, Fawkes said it would take a while, and mom said it was alright with her if I went, so I packed a few necessities. Next thing I knew there were flames licking up around me, and then I was standing in the forest outside this school."

I saw Hermione sitting smiling at the foot of my bed, and Harry standing next to her. Beside Harry stood another boy with the reddest hair I've ever seen, and he was staring at me with building curiosity in his blue eyes.

"Ah, didn't you know that Fawkes is a phoenix?" Dumbledore grinned to me. "He can do that, transport people through flames, it's one of his many abilities. I have a few questions for you at the moment though, but they probably won't require any Whispering from your side."

I nodded carefully to Dumbledore for him to go on, still a bit wary of my head just in case the headache would come back.

"What were you thinking your job here would consist of?" he asked curiously, sitting down on a chair that had suddenly materialised next to my bed. I stared a bit at him and the chair, thinking about the sudden appearance of chairs in his office where I had noticed none to begin with, and realised that even though I had sort of accepted the fact that this was a very magical place, there were probably lots of things here that I couldn't even have imagined, or would have ever linked up to magic.

"Well, just from the walk from the forest and up here to the castle, I felt bombarded with feelings and thoughts from people and animals, so I guess I'll just work my way through, and see what is brought to the surface... I won't know exactly what I am to do here until I've had a better look and feel of the place, and I'm sure Fawkes had a reason for taking me here that he can tell me later." I got lost in my own musings for a little while, but was brought back by Dumbledore's pleasant voice.

"Yes, I would expect no less from him. I wonder why Fawkes chose you, though, and not someone that lived a bit closer... I would love to know once you find out." he smiled at me.

"I'll let you know. I'm wondering about that one myself. I've experienced some weird and extraordinary things before, like that argument I had with the... um... Do you know about "nisse", Dumbledore? I don't know if you have those here.. They're sort of like tiny people, looking somewhat like dwarfs or gnomes.. They can be rather mischievous and difficult to handle.. We had one on our loft that just wouldn't stop pulling pranks on us.." I grinned at the memory of the grumpy little man. "I didn't even know we had a house-nisse until my skills at Whispering developed more last year, and it took quite some persuasion from my side for him to ease up on making things difficult for us. I had to make our dog promise to stop chasing him whenever she saw him, and we also buy some extra food now for him as well.. But, it's worth it - he's turned his pranks onto salesmen that comes knocking on our door and also on some of our more disagreeable neighbours." I grinned wickedly, remembering especially one bothersome salesperson who just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, and how his suitcase had mysteriously opened up so that his papers got spread all over the front yard, and how his pants had ripped, and how he'd tripped and fallen into the mud, and the trouble he'd had with his car. I told them about it, as well as some other episodes like that, and felt myself relax even more at the laughter that filled the air.

"So you actually have met magical creatures before?" Hermione asked me, amusement still glittering in her eyes.

"I guess I have.. I just didn't know.." I shrugged. "You see, I just thought of our house-nisse as a nisse, just as someone would think of a cat as a cat, and not necessary know anything more about it.. I just sort of accepted that that's the way things were.. Just as some other things I could feel out in the forest and fields back home.. I felt there were some special things there, but they would hide from me, and I respected that. If they wanted me to leave them alone, then I would leave them alone, but I must admit that I have been quite curious about it.."

"Maybe that is why Fawkes picked you, that you have this easy acceptance of what is, without denial or any kind of demand to know it all." Dumbledore voiced his thoughts.

"I don't know..." I said, and looked down at my palms as I wondered if that could be part of it.

"Because even though you got a bit of a shock when Harry here emerged from underneath his cloak of invisibility, you handled the sight of your aura well, and even knew what it was and how to work with it." Dumbledore continued.

I looked back up at them, seeing Harry shuffle his feet a bit embarrassed and staring down into the floor, and Hermione giving him a reproaching look. The red head was looking at me with what seemed to be a curious glint in his blue eyes, and Dumbledore also was still focused on me.

"Well, yeah, auras I can handle.. I've read a bit about that, and I have felt and know it was there, but I have just never seen it before.. My Empathic friend would tell me about things like that, since she could see them and understand them as well. But, cloaks of invisibility I have never heard of before.." I laughed a bit, smiling friendly at Harry when he looked up at me again, and was happy when he relaxed and grinned back at me. "But Dumbledore.. Would you know why I suddenly saw it? My aura, I mean.."

"I could guess and say that it's all the magic of this place that has been effecting you. I only noticed your aura as a slight disturbance in the air around you as you communicated with Fawkes, but it seemed to get stronger by the minute, showing more colour the more you Whispered. I'm sure miss Granger here can find some answers for you on that." Dumbledore smiled towards Hermione, who blushed a bit embarrassed, but also grinned and nodded to me. "She has agreed to let you share her room, if you're up for it. You should take things easy for the rest of the day, and maybe we could make a plan for your stay later on…?" It sounded great to me, so I nodded eagerly. I'd felt an instant connection with Hermione, and Harry also had felt like a very nice boy. This red-haired newcomer I knew nothing about, but the fact that he was with Hermione and Harry spoke to his defence.

"So I can just go then?" I asked brightly.

"Yes, but please do try to rest, or I'll have Madam Pomfrey after me." Dumbledore smiled, and even with my Whispering powers out cold for the moment I could sense the amusement and wisdom radiating off of him.

"Come on, Anne. We've got your bag here, so let's go so I can show you my room. Soon to be our room!" Hermione's deep brown eyes glittered with excitement, and I felt it affect me too as I got eager and sat up too quickly in the bed.

"Just a sec… I'm still a bit woozy." I grinned lopsidedly, grabbing a hold of the bed I was in to steady myself.

To my surprise both of the boys and Hermione all offered their hand to help me stand, so I just sat there staring at them. Then I took the red-head's hand and shook it. I grinned even more broadly at his confusion, and almost laughed at the degree of redness he achieved as I introduced myself.

"I'm Anne… Nice to meet you! Friend of Hermione and Harry's, I presume?"

"Uh, yeah… Ronald Weasley… Ron. Nice to meet you too."

His ears especially got fiery red, but being the considerate person I am at times, I swallowed the teasing comments that appeared on my tongue. I let Hermione help me off the bed, and all four of us headed out of the infirmary.

This school was the most impressive building I'd ever been in, and I tried to digest all the impressions I got as we walked through it. The trio obviously was very familiar with the place as none of them reacted to the moving and talking pictures, or the ghosts I glimpsed down the hallways, or the disappearing and reappearing doors. I instantly loved the place.

"I'm a prefect – a student with extra responsibilities such as patrolling the school and taking care of the other students – as is Ron here, and as a perk we have our own rooms away from the houses this year." At my questioning glance, Hermione explained a bit more. "The students all are divided into one of four different houses the first year they arrive; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house have their own personality traits, and their own common rooms and dormitories. The first years start when they're about eleven, and there's seven years in total at this school. Me, Ron and Harry are in our sixth year now, and we're all Gryffindors."

"Ah, I turned 16 myself this spring.." I grinned. "This is just so cool… I'd never thought I'd ever hear about a magic school, let alone get to experience one… Are there lots of schools like this? What do you learn here?" I felt the questions bubble up in me – as normal – and could hardly wait to explore the place.

"Oh, there are other schools too, but the locations are a secret… We have lots of exciting subjects like Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Potions, History of Magic…" Hermione practically sang the weird names.

"…Care of Magical Creatures, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Astronomy…" Harry supplied.

"…Divination, Charms, Muggle Studies, and Herbology among other things." Ron added.

"Wow, I hardly understood anything of what you guys just said…" I started laughing, feeling better by the second, and put my arm through Hermione's as they guided me along old corridors lit up with torches, up large moving stairs, through camouflaged doors, and back down other stairs, all the while chatting merrily about the extraordinary things in their school.


End file.
